Sansad Khel Mahakumbh 3.0 Inaugurated in Bilaspur

The third edition of the wildly popular Sansad Khel Mahakumb 3.0 was inaugurated on March 5, 2024 at the Luhnu Cricket Ground in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh amid a festive atmosphere and grand fanfare. Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur presided over the opening ceremony as the chief guest, which was also graced by two of Indian cricket's biggest icons - Rohit Sharma, captain of the Indian cricket team, and Rahul Dravid, the head coach.

Invoking the Motto 'Kheloge Toh Khiloge'

In his inaugural address, Anurag Thakur cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's powerful mantra of 'Kheloge Toh Khiloge' (You'll bloom if you play) as the driving inspiration behind organizing this grand sports festival. He said the Khel Mahakumbh exemplified the PM's vision of mainstreaming sports and providing a platform to nurture talent from the grassroots level across India's hinterlands.

"The Sansad Khel Mahakumbh is a shining example of the Prime Minister's commitment to promoting sports and a sporting culture across all strata of society, especially in rural areas," Thakur said. "It is an endeavor to scout hidden talent, provide them exposure and top-class training facilities so they can represent India at mega events like the Olympics and bring glory to the nation."

The Minister emphasized that sports inculcates valuable life skills like discipline, determination, teamwork and time management in youth, preparing them for life's challenges. He urged parents to wholeheartedly encourage their children to take up sports.

A Roaring Success from Grassroots

The Sansad Khel Mahakumbh, launched in 2018 by Anurag Thakur in his parliamentary constituency of Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, has become a roaring success story. From humble beginnings with 1400 teams and 42,700 participants in the first edition, it has exponentially grown into a mass movement engaging youth across the length and breadth of the nation.

The second edition held in Basti, Uttar Pradesh in 2023 saw an overwhelming participation of over 2300 teams and 45,700 youth, including more than 1000 girls from over 800 panchayats and 5000 villages across the region. A staggering Rs 50 lakh in prize money was awarded to winners across 7 sporting disciplines.

Inspired by this grassroots phenomenon, about 300 MPs across India have begun organizing similar Khel Mahakumbhs in their respective constituencies under Thakur's guidance.

Targeting 75,000 Participants in Himachal

After its remarkable success in the first two editions, the organizers have set an ambitious target of 75,000 participants for Sansad Khel Mahakumbh 3.0 being held in Bilaspur from March 5-25, 2024.

Teams from every village panchayat under the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency will vie for top honors across five popular sports - volleyball, kabaddi, cricket, basketball and athletics. Separate categories have been created for boys and girls to promote gender equality and empowerment.

"The overwhelming response we have received shows the Khel Mahakumbh has struck a chord with India's youth, especially in rural areas who now see sports as a viable career option," said Thakur. "We are creating the right infrastructure, providing coaching and equipment support to nurture their talent from the grassroots up."

He added that the Khel Mahakumbh has become an effective vehicle to wean youth away from societal vices like drugs and alcohol by engaging them in constructive sporting activities.

Cricket Icons Laud the Initiative

Indian cricket icons Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid, the star attractions at the grand opening ceremony, lavished praise on the remarkable Khel Mahakumbh initiative and its positive impact on the grassroots sports ecosystem.

"It's heartening to see an initiative like the Sansad Khel Mahakumbh providing a platform for hidden talent to be identified and nurtured from the most remote corners of the country," said Rohit Sharma. "Having faced ground realities of lack of facilities and support in my early days, I can relate to the struggles of aspiring athletes from small towns and villages. An opportunity like this would have been a boon."

The swashbuckling opener reminisced about his own humble beginnings when he started playing cricket on the streets of Mumbai with friends using rupee-bunched tapes as balls. "Accessible platforms like the Khel Mahakumbh are bound to unearth many such incredible stories of talent and determination triumphing over constraints."

Coach Rahul Dravid described the grassroots project as a "gamechanger" that aligned with the larger vision of establishing India as a sporting powerhouse across multiple disciplines in the years ahead. "The real champions are not born in cities or with access to fancy infrastructure and resources, but in the obscure playgrounds and 'gullies' of small towns," he said. "The Khel Mahakumbh allows that amazing reservoir of talent to be tapped into by providing them a platform to showcase their skills."

The cricketing icons also conducted interactive sessions and offered precious tips to the aspiring young sportspersons attending the Mahakumbh, boosting their motivation levels.

Making India a Sporting Powerhouse

Spearheaded by Prime Minister Modi's vision of a multisport nation, India has made rapid strides in creating a holistic sporting ecosystem, improving infrastructure, identifying talent and providing world-class training facilities over the past decade.

Grassroots initiatives like the Khel Mahakumbh are a vital cog in achieving Modi's lofty goal of establishing India's sporting superpower status in the years ahead. By taking elite sporting action and inspiration to the hinterlands, they fire up aspirations in the remotest pockets while creating a gigantic grassroots talent pool for India's long-term benefit.

As the Sansad Khel Mahakumbh 3.0 rolls along over the next 20 days in Bilaspur, all eyes will be on the veritable talent parade and the amazing stories of hope, grit and determination it is bound to throw up from the villages of Himachal Pradesh.